Zaina
Appearance 5'7, athletically built, and mainly described as skinny. Her paler skin is dotted with darker colored freckles, mainly down her arms, face, and legs. Her long, auburn hair waterfalls down her shoulders is wavy curls, a bright contrast against her dark blue-green eyes. When she goes out hunting, she ties her hair back into a tight braid, not really caring if it's cute. Zaina is often seen wearing a red-dyed, tightly woven leather tunic with cut-off sleeves. Her leather pants are neatly kept, and her shoes are shaped around her feet, designed for exercise and long treks through the woods. She keeps herself and her clothes clean, and tries to bathe often. Hanging from her pants is a sheath containing her sword and small knife, tightly attached to her waist and easily accessible. Personality Zaina is smart, quick on her feet, and can be sarcastic. She cares for her family and village, and would protect them with her life. She is widely despised, however, for caring and raising a dragon, but she doesn't regret it for a moment. She loves Sorrel deeply, and knows that the village is safer with a dragon in their side. She often feels very isolated from the others, but is glad that she found Sorrel to keep her company. She also loves to read and draw in her spare time. History Zaina was born to Adair, one of the village's most trusted guards, and Evelyn, a healer and gatherer, in the small village of Riverside. Her father taught her from a young age what dragons could do, and the damage that they could cause. Her mother often brought her out to the forest to gather resources and food, teaching her how to hide and quickly gather whatever they needed before heading back to the safety of the village. Zaina eventually joined training classes to become a soldier like her father to protect her people, and became very skilled in fighting. Her very first dragon raid was terrifying for her, but she fought alongside her father to take down one of the invaders. She was givin high praise, and was quickly promoted to a guard to work alongside her father. One day she was assigned to retrieve a lost cow that had fled the village enclosure and into the forest. As she searched the bushes and surrounding area, she discovered upon a lone dragon egg, surrounded by the remains of other eggs. For the first time in her life, Zaina was torn between killing the dragon or sparing it. After a long time pacing and muttering to herself, she took the large, bulging egg and built a quick nest for it not far into the forest away from the village, then returned home and explained that she followed the cow's trail to a clearing, where the tracks promptly disappeared, accompanied by a patch of blood. She didn't mention her new secret companion. When she returned the next day, she found the remaining pieces of the egg. Fustrated, she kicked out at what she thought to be a log, and then let out a startled yell as the log yelped in pain. It turned out that the dragonet had hatched and fallen out of the nest, then decided to take a nap. When Zaina saw it's round, large, helpless eyes, her heart melted, and she knew whatever happened next, she would protect and love her new companion. She named the dragon Sorrel. Sorrel grew surprisingly fast, and at the age of one, she was almost as tall as Zaina's hip. Zaina was surprised to discover how intelligent the dragon was. Sorrel seemed to respond to whatever she said, and seemed to understand what she said. It was astounding. A few years later, while Zaina was out on a hunting patrol, she was attacked by a desert dragon. Zaina had fought dragons before, but not by herself. She was knocked aside and pinned down within a few minutes, and she was preparing for the worst. So, when the dragon was suddenly stumbling away from her, she looked up and gaped. Sorrel had managed to locate her and was now standing over her, teeth bared, wing flared in a protective manner. Even though the other dragon was twice Sorrel's size, it fled, probably thinking that Zaina wasn't a meal worth fighting for. Zaina, numb with relief, stood and hugged her dragon, who wrapped her large wings around her. Thats when the rest of her hunting patrol found her. They were shocked, and then rushed forward to protect Zaina. Sorrel was obviously confused and backed away from the other humans. Zaina stopped her companions, trying to explain the situation, but they were doubtful. Why would anyone rescue a dragon? They took Zaina back to the village, where she had to explain the whole thing again. Everyone was outraged, but none more so than her father. Adair stormed over to her, teeth gritted, and roared, "Have you the brains of a toad? Why did you rescue, trust, and raise a dragon?" Quivering with rage, he waited for an answer. Zaina raised her head challengingly and replied, "I couldn't kill her. She was like an abandoned child, alone and helpless. I knew that she would be useful for protection from other dragons." Adair stood there, glaring at her. "You can never trust a dragon," he hissed. "Or one who associates herself with one." And with that, he turned away from his daughter and disappeared into the crowd. Zaina stood there, unable to register the flood of emotions that racked her body, while the crowd dispersed, shooting her hostile glares. Zaina returned to Sorrel, who seemed to be giving her a sympathetic look. She sighed, leaning against her, now only, companion. Years passed in a blur. Soon, Sorrel was large and terrifying to the villagers. Zaina lived on the outskirts of the village, due to everyone claiming that it was safer if the dragon stayed away from the flocks. "She wouldn't hurt them," Zaina muttered in response, but as long as she had her dragon, everything was fine by her. She was sent out to follow a pair of suspicious tracks that led from the sheep pen into the forest when she was jumped again by another dragon. It was one of the mountain ones, looming over Zaina and swatting her away. She lunged, stabbing her sword into the dragon's tail before the dragon snatched her up in its claws and made a weird hissing noise. Zaina struggled in vain, but just as her death approached, she was flung away. Dazed, she got up and saw Sorrel was fighting the hostile dragon. She felt a hand on her shoulder and rolled away, sword in hand, before she recognized Richard. He explained that Sorrel was acting weird and scaring everyone, so he decided to follow her. The mountain dragon was twice Sorrel's size, and was winning the fight. Zaina called for Sorrel then raced into the forest. Sorrel retreated after her human, and the mountain dragon retreated back into the sky. Sorrel collapsed, panting and clearly in pain from the wounds. Richard was training in the medical field, so he practiced on the large dragon, patching her up and tending to the wounds. Zaina asked for the reason why he was helping her, and he admitted that he was quite fond of her and thought that she was brave for raising a dragon. He also thought that it was a good idea to raise a dragon, despite everyone's disagreements. Category:Scavengers Category:Females Category:Occupation (Soldier) Category:Characters Category:LGBT+ Category:Content (Ra the SandWing)